flake

flake¹ (fl

1. A flat thin piece or layer; a chip.

2. Archaeology A stone fragment removed from a core or from another flake by percussion or pressure, serving as a preform or as a tool or blade itself.

3. A small piece; a bit.

4. A small crystalline bit of snow.

5. Slang A somewhat eccentric person; an oddball.

6. Slang Cocaine.

v. flaked, flak·ing, flakes

v.tr.

1. To remove a flake or flakes from; chip.

2. To cover, mark, or overlay with or as if with flakes.

v.intr.

To come off in flat thin pieces or layers; chip off.

Phrasal Verb:

flake out Slang

1. To fall asleep or collapse from fatigue or exhaustion.

2. To act in an odd or eccentric manner.

3. To lose interest or nerve.

[Middle English; see plk-¹ in Indo-European roots.]

flaker n.

flake ¹

Noun

1. a small thin piece chipped off an object or substance

2. a small piece: flakes of snow

3. slang an eccentric or unreliable person

Verb

[flaking, flaked]

1. to peel or cause to peel off in flakes

2. to break into small thin pieces: bake for 30 minutes, or until the fish is firm and flakes easily [from Old Norse]

flaky adj

flake ²

Noun

(in Australia) the commercial name for the meat of the gummy shark

flake (fl

1. A relatively thin, sharp-edged stone fragment removed from a core or from another flake by striking or prying, serving as a tool or blade itself or as a blank for making other tools. See more at flake tool.

2. A small, symmetrical, six-sided crystal of snow. Flakes can be large or small and wet or dry, depending on weather conditions. They are white in color because of their large number of reflecting surfaces.

Flake a bundle of parallel fibres or threads, 1635.

Examples: flake of ice, 1555.

ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words Antonyms

Noun	1.	flake - a crystal of snow snowflake snow, snowfall - precipitation falling from clouds in the form of ice crystals H2O, water - binary compound that occurs at room temperature as a clear colorless odorless tasteless liquid; freezes into ice below 0 degrees centigrade and boils above 100 degrees centigrade; widely used as a solvent crystal - a solid formed by the solidification of a chemical and having a highly regular atomic structure snow - a layer of snowflakes (white crystals of frozen water) covering the ground
	2.	flake - a person with an unusual or odd personality eccentric, eccentric person, oddball, geek unusual person, anomaly - a person who is unusual crackpot, fruitcake, nut case, screwball, crank, nut - a whimsically eccentric person nutter, wacko, whacko - a person who is regarded as eccentric or mad
	3.	flake - a small fragment of something broken off from the whole; "a bit of rock caught him in the eye" chip, fleck, scrap, bit fragment - a piece broken off or cut off of something else; "a fragment of rock" matchwood - fragments of wood; "it was smashed into matchwood" exfoliation, scurf, scale - a thin flake of dead epidermis shed from the surface of the skin scurf - (botany) a covering that resembles scales or bran that covers some plant parts sliver, splinter - a small thin sharp bit or wood or glass or metal; "he got a splinter in his finger"; "it broke into slivers"
Verb	1.	flake - form into flakes; "The substances started to flake" form - assume a form or shape; "the water formed little beads"
	2.	flake - cover with flakes or as if with flakes cover - provide with a covering or cause to be covered; "cover her face with a handkerchief"; "cover the child with a blanket"; "cover the grave with flowers"
	3.	flake - come off in flakes or thin small pieces; "The paint in my house is peeling off" flake off, peel, peel off chip, chip off, break away, break off, come off - break off (a piece from a whole); "Her tooth chipped"